UW Health set to start vaccinating kids under 5

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized the COVID-19 vaccine for kids under five on Saturday and UW Health experts say they’re ready to start rolling out vaccinations in Wisconsin as early as the end of this week.

Dr. Bill Hartman, the Co-Principal Investigator of UW’s KidCOVE Moderna pediatric vaccine clinical trial for kids under five in Madison, said the approval is a dream come true for many of the families of younger children.

“There’s families all across this state that have been pining for these vaccines so they can get their kids protected and start living the lives that had hoped for when their kids were born,” Hartman explained Monday afternoon.

While COVID-19 numbers have been decreasing for kids under five in Dane County, Dr. Hartman said this and the notion that COVID doesn’t affect kids, which Hartman said is false, shouldn’t be reason not to vaccinate.

“This is a virus that really causes more problems than we would hope for in kids. Sure, they don’t get as sick as adults— but we shouldn’t become numb to it,” Hartman said, referencing the hundreds of children in the US who have lost their lives since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly two and a half years ago.

For parents looking to vaccinate their children, Hartman said that UW Health has a webpage that parents can sign up on. Otherwise, he said to call your local pharmacy, as many will begin to offer the shot for children.

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